


television (so far, so good)

by pooryorik (orphan_account)



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid, The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Face Your Feelings Or Die, Fluff, Kinda, Love Confessions, M/M, Pining, Truth Serum, crack ship treated with respect, i just wanted ted to sing rex orange county to paul so i made it happen, less scary apotheosis, listen i dont know how i got into this ship either, ted is a moron, they all are, who cares about the plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:33:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24048232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/pooryorik
Summary: But don't you worry, don't you, don't worry girlNo I'm not sure if I'm into youThe last time that you checked I was probably so sad and confusedI don't know, no, I don't know what you likeBut if you're looking for something newI know somebody that you could choose
Relationships: Paul Matthews/Ted
Kudos: 19





	television (so far, so good)

**Author's Note:**

> -note-  
> I should probably start these by saying I am very new to this, and by “this” i mean writing in general. I absolutely crave concrit so please give if you will. I fully blame a03 for getting me into this ship. been on kind of a nightly writing kick, so we’ll see where this goes. Completely self indulgent here. Slight variation on the apotheosis in that it’s a virus instead of alien posession, infected only become violent in groups, and it’s a jukebox musical based on songs the host’s heard that, well.. you ‘ll see (i doubt anyone will care but yes this is inspired by zoeys extraordinary playlist)

Ted had, frankly, enough to deal with today. The singing zombie apocalypse is one thing, but an eccentric professor indirectly letting you know that hey, in a few minutes you’re going to sing a song (highly likely to be extremely embarrassing and confessional in nature) in front of the only people in the world who cared if you existed was quite another.  
“I have an antidote to this virus, but there is simply not enough to quell this spread. I have two doses- I suppose we can use one on the police man and save the other.”  
Ted looked as subtly as he could to the blue scratch on his ankle. Maybe it was small enough to not mean anything? I mean Christ, Sam had the entire top of his head ripped off.  
(If Ted found this satisfying, no one really needed to know, did they?)  
“So what’s the plan, then?” Edna, Esther, whatever- had a bottle of vodka in her hand. Not a bad idea.  
“We get you and your syringes to the top brass in the hope that’ll buy us safety?”  
“Yes, in essence I suppose that’s it.”  
Ted tensed up, and a drumbeat began to materialize out of thin air. Thankfully (?) Ted wasn’t the only one who could hear it. He figured this would end up a lot worse without backing tracks.  
Everyone froze, assuming something malicious was just outside the gates.  
(Nope, you morons, it’s worse.). Ted raised a shaky hand. He all of a sudden felt very faint, probably because he was using every ounce of effort not to Sing because he knew this song and he’ll sooner die than talk about That. Now.  
(You see, about two years ago Paul and Ted had gotten very drunk- Paul a little/ a lot more so than Ted- and made out at the company New Year’s party. Ted thanked God because Paul had been blackout, but very unfortunately he had not. Some extremely irritating Feelings had developed very quickly. Ted had repressed them well and was now on a personal record of hiding his crush from everyone possible, including himself. He had absolutely no intention of airing out that dirty laundry here, of all places. Hell no.)  
“I suppose we’re using both antidotes now, then.”  
“Goddamnit, dude. You really chose to be the one who hides the zombie bite?” Esme absolutely refused to shut.the hell. up.  
“Ted, seriously?” Bill was terrified and he seemed to completely have forgotten the part where Ted obviously was not going to hurt anybody .  
“He’ll be fine?” Paul looked to the Nutty Professor, and Ted furiously ignored how nice it made him feel that he was worrying about him. It was like the stupid scratch had very annoyingly brought everything possible to the very surface. Vulnerability was not Ted’s strong suit. He valued his dignity, thank you.  
Dignity be damned, though, because it was Song Time.  
“Hey, I’m not afraid, I can be myself and I….”  
Ted held the sides of his armchair and furiously kept his gaze trained on the floor. Hoping, if he was lucky, Paul would make the assumption this was about Charlotte. Keep his giveaways to voice only. This did hurt a little- hurt a lot, actually, Jesus- but Ted was pretty sure he could power through it.  
“Ted, your- your nose is bleeding-” Charlotte approached him slightly, terrified.  
“But last time that you checked I was probably so sad and confused…”  
Ted couldn’t keep this up much longer. His stomach was doing flips and he infuriatingly knew exactly why, because Paul was right there, looking at him all tender and concerned, and God Ted wanted death right now more than ever.  
“But if you’re lookin’ for someone new, I know somebody that you could choose-”  
No. Ted clapped his hands over his mouth. Mercifully, this paused the song altogether. He looked at Hidgens, eyes pleading.  
“If I give you the antidote mid-song, it will kill you. Just let it happen.” He approached Ted and leaned next to his ear. Quiet enough so only Ted could make out what he muttered.  
“It’ll help with the pain if you look at him. Let it be cathartic.”  
Ted hoped that he would wake up from this nightmare tomorrow without the usual crick in his back from his shitty mattress as he slowly lowered his hands to his lap, gritting his teeth.  
“It’s okay Ted. We all know what’s been happening with Charlotte.”  
God, you’re so dense. He finally, mercifully, let himself look straight on into Paul’s annoyingly pretty eyes. He shrugged. He was probably going to die today, anyway.  
“What about me…… What about me? What about me and you together- something that could really last forever?”  
Ellie laughed. Charlotte looked only a little more confused than she did at all hours of the day, and Bill furrowed his brow, suspicious.  
It, like most things, took Paul a moment. And when he realized, Ted wished he could save the moment forever. He had never seen Paul blush before and he had the frankly horrifying realization that he wanted to see it much more often.  
Vulnerability turned out to be pretty freeing, and Ted had listened to this song post-That New Year’s a thousand times for a reason. He got up and started to dance a little. If these dickheads were gonna witness his ultimate humiliation, he might as well make it a show.  
Elizabeth, stunningly, got up and joined him mid-song. Maybe she wasn’t that bad. Bill eventually joined them. Paul and Charlotte remained where they were, stunned for delightfully different reasons. Ted hoped she’d be jealous. As for Paul, he was not fully prepared to contemplate his hopes in that department.  
For the rest of the song, honestly? It was fun as hell. Especially the parts that he knew only Charlotte would realize pertained to her.  
During the guitar solo, Ted paused to catch his breath while Edie and Bill danced something akin to a waltz/jig. They were all very bad dancers, in essence. Paul finally managed to say something.  
“I…. I had no idea.”  
“That’s because of two things; I am highly skilled at hiding whatever excuses for feelings I have- and you’re dense as hell.” Ted was grinning maniacally. Jeez, maybe he should tell the truth more often. Paul didn’t have a chance to respond, as it was time for the next verse.  
After the song was over Hidgens injected the serum into Ted’s upper arm as he watched the scar magically disappear from his leg. He took a deep breath. “Paul?”  
Paul was watching the scar disappear blankly.  
“Yes?”  
“Let’s wait to talk about this in the slim chance of the event we don’t get killed, eh?”  
Paul smiled, and something inside of Ted broke. He prayed he wasn’t too noticeably red. So much good repression work, destroyed by a tiny zombie scratch. (Okay, it was more of a gash, but still.)  
“Okay, Ted.”

**Author's Note:**

> two things   
> 1- yes ted is a rat   
> 2- no i am most certainly NOT projecting on said ray why would you even suggest that


End file.
